With the further development of electronic driver assistance systems, the vehicles and associated technology are changing. The amount of data generated, for example, by a camera array can no longer be transmitted in real time via a conventional Controller Area Network (CAN) communication network with a transmission rate of approximately 500 kbps. One solution is the Ethernet standard, which is known from computer technology. It is viewed by vehicle manufacturers as a stable communication scheme for future vehicle networks. Since the climatic conditions in a vehicle differ substantially from those in an office environment, the connecting elements and electrical conductors must be configured to the use in a vehicle. The components need to function reliably over their entire lifecycle and need to be robust against strong temperature variations and vibration influence. Since intelligent nodes can also be located in areas exposed to increased humidity, such as in an exterior mirror, the connector connections need to be waterproof in all cases. In addition, the components must be as small as possible to keep the required volume in the vehicle low. It is understood, that the components, as is usual in the automobile industry, should be particularly low-cost in manufacture and assembly. All these requirements impose problems for developers.
The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.